Backstreet Berto

In 1999, the Backstreet Boys dominated the pop charts with a little diddy titled, “I Want It That Way.” At the height of the band’s career, girls went to great lengths to get a piece of the Max Martin produced, hit-making machine.

That very same year, I, Roberto Comparan, got hired to work at a Jostens' Summer Camp. At the end of the camp session, our Jostens’ Camp Yearbook team mimicked the boy band, capitalized on the band’s success and victimized a congregate of pubescent teens with a spoof performance.

I must apologize in advance. The moves you are about to see might leave you feeling nauseous. They are over-the-top and simply, silly.



To my former coworkers, Crystal, Tony, Rob and Shawn, I am aware that this is a bit incriminating. Thank you for comprising your integrity alongside me. Class of 1999, go ahead, laugh at me! I bet you never seen me gyrate like this before?

1999: Pop Cultural Trends

Napster, Blogger, The Matrix, Britney Spears, and TRL were just a few pop cultural phenomena that began to redefine how we would buy music, share stories, view fight sequences in films, listen to radio, and interact with people in our adults years.


For better or for worse, there's no denying how these brands transformed industries ten years later. What kind of impact have some of these brands, systems, films, people, or shows had on your life since 1999?